NOTW: She's Pampered

Here I am with another NOTW!

I'm sure everyone agrees that red is THE holidays' nail polish color. Hence my choice for an Essie's red:

Essie: She's Pampered

She's Pampered is an indulgent (as they say on their website) red and makes part of the 2012 Winter Collection.

This polish is a cool toned pink based red and applies smooth as a baby's but :)
It would be ideal to apply 2 coats, but I only put on 1 coat in the picture above.

I must admit that Essie chips quite easily on me, so it's a bit disappointing that I pay that much money (Essie is in the average price range in Belgium). Nevertheless, I love the cream formula and how opaque Essie colors can be. Not to mention that Essie is known for their DBP, toluene and formaldehyde free formula, yay!

I only buy Essie if I'm totally in love with the color.
And this color is a true holiday color :)

Clinique's chubby sticks

Interested in this post? Then you're just a lip balm freak as I am :)

I bought one a couple of months ago and fell in love with the concept.
Basically a chubby stick is a like a lip balm that looks like a big crayon that you can twist up without having it to sharpen it...EVER!

Clinique Chubby sticks

These lip balms kind of remind me of Maybelline's baby lips.

They're a little moisturizing, they're tinted and are balms that should be twisted up for usage.







I'm sure that this lip balm concept sounds familiar to the most of you:

• Revlon's Just Bitten lip balm stain
• Tarte's Lipsurgence
• HEMA lip sticks
• NARS Velvet Gloss Pencils
• and plenty of others brands

Mega Melon - Woppin' Watermelon - Curvy Candy

I have noticed that Chubby Sticks are those with the most sheer shades and are the least glossy balms, yet they're moisturizing enough to keep me going for a few hours.

Swatches Chubby Sticks

Top down:
Woppin' Watermelon : a sheer cool toned pink. Can be a dark pink if it's built up.
Mega Melon: a corally, old spiced pink
Curvy Candy: a sheer rosy pink

Do I like them? Yes.
Do I love them? No.

I'm still on the hunt for a good tinted lip balm, but these will do the trick for now :)
And by the way, how can you not smile just be reading the name?

NOTW: Yummy Mummy

I have another NOTW for you beauties!

This week I was rocking Butter London's Yummy Mummy:

Butter London: Yummy Mummy

This is such a GORGEOUS colour!
It's a simple classic nude that goes with everything.

This is my first Butter London polish and I must say (unfortunately for my wallet) that I'm loving BL's formula. They go on smooth and opaque in just 2 coats (although I've only put 1 coat on the picture above). I must admit that this has been one of the best polishes I've used so far. It's just a shame that these BLs are so darn expensive!

I do have to buy these online as they don't sell this in Belgium (hint hint), so I'll have to pay for shipping costs as well...

Nonetheless, I won't be able to restrain myself when I see another must have color :p

LO-VING these and I highly recommend these polishes!

My Essence...

Hi hi everyone!

Here's a new post on my last purchased concealer:

Essence: concealer in 05 Matt Beige

I've paid about 2€ for it and honestly, it's probably one of the better concealers I've used.
My favorite is still my Shu Uemura Pro Concealer which has been discontinues (boo!) but this one... damn!

It's a matte beige color and it's slightly lighter than my skin tone.
You have to twist up this cover stick. I know I should be using a a concealer brush to apply it, but I just put it directly on my blemish and blend it out with my finger...works like a charm!

I do have to admit that I have to apply it twice, opposed to my Shu Uemura which I only had to apply once. But hey, I can't complain for a little stick which is worth 2 euros :)

To repurchase? Hell yeah!

NOTW: Fuchsia

Herro herro my beauties, and I'm back with another NOTW!

I have been dying to show you girls my love for this polish:

ELF: Fuchsia

As you can see it's a polish by ELF.
ELF stands for eyes lips face and is known for its cheap, yet qualitative make up goodies.

It's pretty dark rose in real life, although it shows a purple on the website...
It's opaque in 2 coats and has stayed put on my nails for almost an entire week o_O

Come on, you have to admit that for only 2,5€, that's a pretty darn good deal!

This polish is definitely my go to polish for winter 2012. Go ELF!

Blush away!

Hi everyone!

I don't know about you guys, but during fall and winter time I just love using my blushes!
Recently I bought myself a NYX blush, and I must say: this one's goooorgeous!

I try to do some research on a certain product before I go out and buy it. If there's about 1/3 negative reviews on it, I won't buy it.

I've probably read a ton of reviews and seen youtubers reviewing and raving about this blush over and over again.

And yes, I gave in.

Here's Pinched by NYX:

Great thing about this?
It's affordable and you get 5,2g in a little pot. Hold it! You're probably thinking: 5,2g (0,18 oz)? That's nothing! Believe you me that you only need the smallest amount of blush, because it's very pigmented :)

NYX: Pinched

 

This is a a rosy-corally blush with a pretty sheen to it.

My most used blushes are:

Melba, Pinched and Coralista :)

MAC: Melba - NYX: Pinched

MAC's Melba is a light pink orangy color, which is more of a summer blush for me. Tap it lightly with your brush and that'll be more than enough to put on the (hollow of the) cheeks.

NYX: Pinched - Benefit: Coralista

Benefit's Coralista is like an all year round blush. No matter what season it is, I think this blush looks good.

It's a very light blush that you can easily build up for a more heavily made up look. I prefer to use a light hand on this, so it looks more natural like you just ran out the door.

A side note: it's just one of those colors that would look great on every skin tone.

Here's a swatch of every blush mentioned above:

Benefit - NYX - MAC

From left to right:

Coralista by Benefit: a baby pink with microshimmers (good to know: I've had my Coralista for a few years now, and I haven't hit pan yet! Score!)

Pinched by NYX: a coral shimmery color

Melba by MAC: a mat pink/orange color

I have some other blushes put away in my beauty case, because I just keep on reaching for one of these blushes.

I always wanted to try out Deep Throat by NARS, because NARS is the queen in blushes :) But I've put myself up to the task to use an entire blush before I go out and splurge money on a NARS blush. Beam me up! 

Maybe I'll do a blog post on my entire blush collection :)

Would that be interesting?

And what is your favorite blush by the way?

NOTW: Girl Trouble

Hi folks!

MAC has recently launched a Glamour Daze Nail Laquer collection where they have polishes in 2 formula's: pearl and crème.

I've applied opaque in 2 coats and tadaaaaa:

MAC: Girl Trouble

It's a silver based purple with a pearl finish. You can probably notice the fine glitter, but I must say it's so densely packed that it looks like a metallic finish in the end.

For the nail lovers out there, you and me both know that glitter is darn hard to remove... and I must admit that MAC's Girl Trouble is no exception.

I chose this polish, because I don't have any other pearly color like this. MAC isn't cheap, but if there's a special color out there, I probably won't be able to resist it :)

Which MAC polish do you love?

Lippies

If there's one beauty thing I won't be able to live without, it would be lip balm.
Every single friend of mine knows I'm addicted to those lip sticks, and it's even better if they'd have a nice scent :)
Here's some of the lippies I bought or was gifted over the past few months:

Waterlip: Peppermint

First up are Lip Ices: I have them in Peppermint and Apple scent.
They last quite some time on the lips, are hydrating and the scent is lov-e-ly!

Lip Ice: Apple

Peppermint: The strong peppermint scent is quite strong, but very cooling on the lips.
They say mentholatum is used for severe chapped lips: smack some waterlip on and bye chapped dry skin!

Apple: This mentholatum lip ice has got an apple flavour (duh?!) and it contains SPF 15 to give some extra protection for the lips against harmful sunray.


Second up is a lip butter from Korres. I bought this because I head so many good reviews on it. I have it in the Pomegranate scent, and I ADORE this lip butter! It's hydrating, creamy yet not sticky.

Korres lip butter: Pomegranate

     

Besides the cute packaging, the lip butter's smoother than smooth. The tint is quite sheer, but smells sooooo good!
Definitely one of my favorites and planning on getting other scents :)






I received a Cherry Culture lip balm when I ordered at Cherry Culture, and I got this Watermelon lip treatment. It's an okay product. I probably won't be purchasing this on its own, but it's nice to have given this lip balm a try.

Cherry Culture lip balm: Watermelon

When I was in HK earlier this year I bought a Revlon lip butter in Creme Brulee. Unfortunately this color was far too light for my lips, so I decided to go for a darker color: Macaroon.

Revlon lip butter: Macaroon

It's like an old spiced rose color with gold sparkles in it.
I just love the creamy formula of these lip butters!

Swatch Revlon lip butter: Macaroon

After buying all these lip balms, I thought I'd be ready for the grown up version: lip sticks! Haha! I bought myself a coral lipstick by L'Oréal: the Caresse line. It's a bright coral color which is a freaking awesome color, but I just don't think it suits me. Back to lip balms I assume...

L'Oréal - 301 Dating Coral

As you can see here, you can choose how bold you want the color to be depending on how many times you go  over it.
     

Swatch L'Oréal: Dating Coral

In my Deauty box I got a Kiehl's lip balm...YAY!! I always wanted to try this, but I was just not able to spend that kind of money on one lip balm of which I wasn't quite sure whether I'd like it or not (thank you Deauty!). You probably guessed what I'm about to say: like like like! They're so hydrating and makes sure my chapped lips disappear like that! The thing is: I promised myself I'd use up all of my products before buying anything else. In spite of how much I like this, I noticed this does contain parabens (=chemicals used as preservatives in cosmetics). Will I be repurchasing this? Probably not, but can't help but loving this!

Kiehl's lip balm #1

Then my friend gifted me these 2 lip balms:

Yes, they're lip balms with cupcake and bacon flavour.
I must admit, my friend and I are both suckers for flavours, packaging and names, regardless of the quality :D

Are they the most hydrating lip balms? No.
Are they bad lip balms? No.
Will I purchase these myself? Probably not.

But I sure can scratch trying bacon lip balm off my to do list. Only in America folks! :)

Swatch NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss: Natural

After seeing so much hype on YT on this lip gloss, I
gave in and bought it. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed by these lip glosses. Yes, the color pay off was very good, but I dislike the sticky feeling of this gloss. A big miss for me...

NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss: Natural

My friend gave me a very cute lip balm:

Oh yeah, it's actually called moustache lip balm (just in case you wouldn't be able to recognize the shape of it, haha!)

Once a sucker, always a sucker for packaging? Yeah baby!

 Moustache lip balm: raspberry

These last couple of months I started getting obsessed with tinted lip balms...

First up is the:

NYC Applelicious glossy lip balm:
Big Apple Red

NYC Applelicous glossy lip balm in Big Apple Red.

They're like a glossy lip balm with a hint of color. The lip balm is actually quite interesting: it's got a apple shape lip balm in the inside which contains shea butter, jojoba oil and avocado oil and the outside has the color. For the price I paid (2,59€), these are the bomB (yes, with a capital letter b at the end!).

And my last purchase is ...

... the HEMA lip balm stick.

Which brand?

If you're not living in Belgium or the Netherlands, you probably won't know this one, but it's a Dutch (from Holland) drugstore with cheap cosmetics.

Swatch HEMA lip balm: reddish plum

It's a tinted and moisturising lip balm. Best thing about this is you never need to sharpen this since it's a twistable lip balm.

I bet this concept sounds familiar?

Yup, it's clearly based on the Chubby Sticks by Clinique. (Another dupe are the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stains)
Since these are quite cheap, I probably will be repurchasing these goodies!



So, these are the most recent lip products I added to my collection. I told you I'm addicted to lip stuff, right?
Anyways, if you have any recommendations on lippies, please let me know in the comment section down below 'cause I'd be more than happy to try them out! :)

Discover beauty

Hello everyone!

I'm sure you've all heard of Birchbox, the Little black Bag, the Ipsy Glam Bag, ... As a beauty freak I've read/saw tons and tons of reviews on these beauty boxes. These are subscriptions to a certain site where you pay a fix (and low!) amount of money and every month you'll get a box filled with beauty goodies in it. GREAT idea! Only downside? It's only for those beauties who live across the world! :(

Then, one day, I started reading the newspaper and saw a little add on the new Belgian beauty box, called Deauty.

Deauty stands for Discover Beauty. I didn't want to post anything about it before trying it out. In the meantime I've received 2 Deauty boxes, and I must admit...I'm pretty impressed by the goodies! Deauty mainly cooperates with brands such as Biotherm, Clarins, Essie, Kiehl's, Shu Uemura, ...)

Just make sure you create your own beauty profile (what type of skin, type of hair, ...) and you'll get your monthly box with approximately 4 to 6 beauty products. Sometimes I even received full size products, so I do think it's worth the money for trying out new goodies.

Here below you'll find the pictures of the boxes I received. Now, since I've already used most of my products, I had to use the pictures from their website www.deauty.be.

They've put ALL available products on these pictures. This means I didn't receive all these products. Depending on your beauty profile, you won't be able to try out products which aren't meant for your skin or hair.


Deauty box October:

This is a picture from their website.

I received 6 out of 8 from this box:

• Biotherm serum (full size)
• Biotherm for combo skin
• Kiehl's lip balm
• L'Oréal mascara (full size)
• L'Oréal eye liner (full size)
• Shu Uemura hair oil

Deauty box November:

This is a picture from their website.

As for the November box I got 6 products:

• Kiehl's Ultra facial cleanser
• Kiehl's Ultra facial cream
• Paul Mitchell super skinny serum
• Nails polish corrector pen by Jean Marin (full size)
• L'Oréal Youth Code luminizer serum
• Clinique High Impact mascara

As for the quality, I must say they're pretty darn good :)
I'm sure I'll be continuing my subscription with them and maybe surprise a friend by gifting her Deauty boxes!

I'll try to review them as soon as I receive them, but I hope you understand I wanted to make sure they were good stuff before I post anything about it.

Until then, see you later Deauties!

Wakey wakey!

Hi dear readers!
It's been so long ago (TOO LONG!!) that I've posted on this blog. It's been a very busy couple of months, but I'll be posting again soon :)

Spoiler alerts:
* a new beauty box
* delicious lippies
* non-drugstore hair products
* eye prettifying stuff
* and many more

Keep an eye open for this blog, cause many more posts to come, YAY!

NOTDs

Summer has passed by like nothing, leafs are changing colors and it's getting colder outside. Know what that means? Time to adjust polish to the season :)

Lately I've been into hot pinks, dark pinks, baby pink... in a nutshell: any pink polish have been my nails' best friend.

Here are some NOTDs:

Bourjois - Fuchsia Bucolique

1st up, Bourjois!
They've released gel formula polishes, and since I've heard god things about gel polishes, I wanted to try these since they're drugstores versions (yay, for lower price!)
This hot pink is actually quite good. It claims to dry up in 1 second. I wouldn't say 1 second, but it does dry quite fast, I must admit. Ow, and by the way, 1 coat is definitely enough :) I like!

Bourjois - Coral Magique

Another Bourjois gel formula polish. I don't really like this one for one particular reason: it's got gold shimmers in it. I'm not the shimmer kind of girl and I prefer my polishes opaquer as opaque :) It's a coral polish (and you all know I love my corals), but due to the shimmers in it I'm not  a big fan of this one. A shame, because it's the same formula as the polish mentioned above.

HEMA

 

Another polish from a local Belgian drugstore. It's hot pink polish, that needs 2 coats but has a beautiful opaque color. It's cheap, lovely color and stays on quite long. Right on!

OPI

If this isn't hot pink, I don't know what is! It's a gorgeous hot pink color from OPI, gifted by my friend. 1 coats does the job and stayed upto 5 days, muchos likos! :)

BB VS CC

You've probably already heard of BB cream, or also known as blemish balm cream. It's something between a tinted moisturizer and a foundation. Some well known asian BB creams are:
            

But I've recently heard there'll be new creams coming up: CC creams!
CC creams stands for color control creams. What that means? An improved BB cream! I haven't got the chance to try it out yet, but I'm not sure I want to to be quite honest... Some examples of the CC creams are:
                                 


The CC creams have everything a BB cream has, only it's more moisturizing, gives more sun protection and has a lighter texture. Biggest advantage of CC creams? They have an oil-free formula which sounds quite appealing to that greasy face of mine :)

 I'm sure looking forward to trying it! Are you?